The present invention relates to point-of-sale systems, and more specifically to methods and systems for determining and applying discounts by using point-of-sale systems.
In most areas of business, several entities compete for the same set of potential customers. Consequently, each business must aggressively pursue marketing strategies to attract customers and induce customer loyalty to their particular establishment. For example, the grocery store industry is highly competitive. There are approximately seventy-five large supermarket chains in the United States. In an attempt to attract customers, members of the grocery store industry have employed a number of different promotions such as frequent shopper programs and weekly coupon specials. Despite these efforts, however, customer loyalty is no longer inherent due to the intense competition.
Another attempt to attract customers is the implementation of a frequent shopper program. Such a program typically provides a customer with a frequent shopper card that is to be presented at the time of a transaction. Presentation of the card identifies the customer and enables the customer to receive preferential treatment, such as discounts on specific items purchased. Essentially, these frequent shopper programs act much like a paperless coupon redemption system. The frequent shopper programs are also used by the business to track a customer""s shopping habits. The frequent shopper card includes a customer identifier that enables the retailer to identify, record and track a customer""s purchases. The customer""s shopping history may then be used to perform targeted marketing functions, such as compiling mailing lists of recipients of advertising material or printing point-of-sale (POS) coupons for the customer.
While the frequent shopper program may succeed in attracting the customer to the store on an occasional basis, the program does not successfully ensure the loyalty of the customers. Since many stores have a frequent shopper program, customers may simply acquire a frequent shopper card for every chain of stores in their area and make purchases at the chain that offers the best specials or is the most convenient at any particular time. Accordingly, a frequent shopper program does not provide any incentive (i.e. reward or penalty) for visiting the store on a consistent basis.
A further drawback of the prior art frequent shopper systems is their failure to identify and reward their most frequent and loyal customers any more than less frequent customers are rewarded. For example, grocery stores make approximately eighty percent of their revenue from about thirty percent of their customers. It would therefore be beneficial for the grocery stores to reward and retain as many of the xe2x80x9cbest thirty percentxe2x80x9d customers as possible.
Some businesses employ reward programs in order to attract and develop customer loyalty. An example of a typical reward program is one implemented by Arby""s, a chain of quick service restaurants. The Arby""s reward program enables customers to earn prizes that increase in value through a series of sixteen visits, after which the prizes revert to their minimum value and the cycle repeats. Since the customer""s account is xe2x80x9cresetxe2x80x9d once the maximum prize value is achieved, the customer has no incentive at that point to continue choosing Arby""s over another fast-food chain. In addition, the Arby""s reward program does not promote frequent visits, since there is no time requirement within which the sixteen visits must be made. Thus, the benefits, if any, may be spread over a substantial length of time.
With the considerable number of businesses in any given area, there exists a need for systems and processes which provide a given business with the ability to reward a particularly loyal customer for consistent patronage to their establishment and to promote and reinforce the customer""s loyalty.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that facilitates the management of subscriptions to products in a retail environment.
In accordance with the present invention, a controller receives a customer identifier and data regarding purchase of the customer. The data may correspond to a current purchase of the customer and/or previous purchases of the customer. The controller, based on the customer identifier and subscription offering criteria, determines a subscription to a product. Examples of subscription offering criteria include a frequency with which the customer purchased a certain product and any existing subscriptions the customer is currently subscribed to. The controller then outputs to the customer an offer for the subscription. The offer defines subscription conditions, which may include (i) a product, (ii) a duration of the subscription, (iii) a product price, (iv) a required frequency of purchases, and (v) a subscription deposit. If the customer accepts the offer, the acceptance is stored in memory. A subscription deposit may be charged to the customer upon indication of the acceptance.